Use it or Lose it

3 mile run to city creek & back.

walked suzie

3 on tm. easy stretching afterwards. then took suzie for a walk

4 easy on tm, 5-5.3 @ 1.5%.

4 miles to city creek, just past pa 4, and back.

3 miles to city creek gate & back.  Then walked suzie, then stretched, then did shoulder & arm exercises for the first time in a month or two.

did shoulder & arm exercises (bit sore after yesterday's workout), then ran 3 miles on tm.  

3 miles on tm.

on treadmill - mostly slow but did ramp it up to 6 mph for maybe an 1/8 of a mile. Felt good - should've ramped it up earlier. Lets me know that I better start increasing my speed. 

I also feel good that I even ran as I seriously did not want to run today, and as a result came pretty close to not running at all.  Don't know why I was so bummed today - probably not helped by a lack of quality sleep for a few days and bad eating today (3-4 chocolate sourcream cookies, 5 almond rochas, a handful of nuts, a handful of figs, 1/2 slice of stale pizza washed down by coffee, EEKS no wonder I had no energy!)

4 on tm, ramped it up (a little) and ran the middle 3 at 5.5 mph 1.5% incline.  Just a little uncomfortable, but not that bad and definitely doable. 

full set of arm & shoulder strengthening exercises, but still need to stretch.

rather lackluster run to city creek gate & back.

Ran 5 on tm, mostly at 5.3 & 1.5% incline. Ramped it up to 5.5 for the last 5 minutes because I needed to hurry up and finish and give Evy a ride.  Felt pretty good.

4 on tm, mostly 5.5 mph. Thought it seemed pretty easy and discovered that the incline had been dropped to 0% instead of 1.5%, so increased it back up for the last 1/2 mile or so.

evening: did my shoulder & arm exercises

only wanted a short run today so I added hills to up the quality of my workout.  warmed up at 5 mph 1.5% incline, then kept my speed at 5 mph at the following inclines:

"on" for ~2 minutes / "off" for ~1 minute

4% / 1%
5% / 1%
6% / 1%
6% / 1%
5% / 1%
5% / 1%
4% / 1%
4% / 1%
3% / 1%

Even though my speed wasn't that fast, I was definitely working hard at the higher inclines so I am logging 1 mile as "fast" today.

7 am run on the tm. Earliest I've ran in quite a while and my body seemed bent out of shape for the first 1/2 mile or so, but then I ramped it up to 5.3 and 1.5% for most of the run. This is the farthest I've run in quite a while as well, and the longer distance was doable, but mentally it was fatiguing and the back of my knees started feeling it a bit towards the end. 

After yesterday's big fat ZERO running (I have lots of excuses but realize that ultimately the buck stops with me...), and a dinner consisting of trail mix and a BIG bowl of ice cream, I was thoroughly discouraged this morning and didn't want to run, figuring "what's the use".

But I figured I would feel even worse if I skipped another day of running, so I hopped on the tm and ran 5 (2 ~ 5mph and 3 ~ 5.5 mph, 1.5% incline).  Sure glad I didn't skip the run. (Sure wish I hadn't skipped yesterday's run.)

I haven't done my arm & shoulder exercises in a few days, but I have been doing lots and lots of snow shoveling, and that has to count for something!

3.25 mile run on tm, then needed to give evy a ride to the university, then came home and did another 3.25 on the tm.  Kept the running slow the whole time.  Really need to improve my diet because I am sure I would feel much better if I up'ed my intake of fruits & veggies.  

3.75 miles on tm.  Kept a pretty slow pace except for when Supertramp's Long Way Home song came on - then I couldn't resist up'ing the pace a bit.

afternoon, 5.5 miles on tm, pretty slow.  Not optimal conditions for running today because I was out running errands with kids most of the day on a very minimal breakfast.  But, hey ho, weekly mileage is 20.75, which is the highest it's been in a long long time!

After last week's slow easy miles, I wanted to incorporate some faster running.

1 mile easy 5 mph 1.5%
4 reps of : 1/2 mile @ 6 mph with a 1/4 mile recovery @4-5 mph
1 mile easy 5 mph

I'm hoping for an easy slow run tomorrow, then a hill workout on Thursday.

Haven't been in the best frame of mind the last few days. Down right emo.

Afternoon:  took Suzie for a long walk.
Evening:  did stretches and shoulder & arm exercises.

morning: 5.25 miles on tm. warmed up for a mile at 5 mph & 1.5% incline, then kept the speed at 5 mph and adjusted the incline as follows:

1,2,1,3,1,4,1,5,1,6,1,7,1,7,1,6,1,5,1,4,1,3,1,2,1,5,1,4,1,3,1,2,1

Was going to stop after the first ladder down, but then went back up to 5% and back down from there just to get a little more mileage in. Figured the tm time would pass faster that way.

The higher inclines got me working pretty hard, so I'm considering about one mile "equivalent" of fast running. 

morning on tm.  wanted to run 5 miles, but my dad called in the middle of the run and I talked with him for about 1/2 hour, then I got back on the tm and managed to run a couple more miles, but then had to stop and give evy a ride to the u.  Now I need to meet someone at 11 so I'm just going to log my 3.5 miles and will adjust my entry if I run more later today.  Legs were pretty dead from yesterday's hill workout anyway.

6 miles on tm, middle 4.5 @ 5.5 mph. 1.5% incline whole time.  Should've ran just a wee bit further to get over 20 miles, but I'm still happy :)

Felt pretty good even though I didn't want to start running. Read a blurb on motivation to do a long run - just get dressed as if it were a shorter run, then do the long, or something like that . . . 6 miles is long for me, btw, even though for most people it wouldn't be.

big goose egg today.  didn't sleep well last night, waking up around 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep so finally got up at 5 am and started cleaning house.  was depressed hearing news about susan powell and her kids, and just had zero motivation to run.

morning. didn't want to do my planned speedwork but knew I at least had to try.  Ended up doing better than expected, deciding to make my reps a full mile instead of the 3/4 mile I had planned, so I'm happy.  Don't know if I felt good because I had an extra day off (yesterday), or because I fueled well this morning (banana & yoghurt/oj smoothie) 1-2 hours before running.

tm set for 1.5% incline
warmup one mile at 5 mph, then
3 reps of 1 mile at 6 mph, with 1/4 mile recoveries at 4-5 mph
cool down one mile at 5-5.5 mph.

The reps were very doable and 6 mph seemed more like a slightly too fast tempo pace, so I should try to up the speed just a bit the next time I'm working on speed.

morning: 4.5 slow miles on treadmill. Hoping for hill work out tomorrow, but not sure it will happen.

also did my arm & shoulder exercises :)

morning, hills on tm, short warm-up, then kept speed at 5 mph and adjusted the incline every 1/4 mile:   1%, 2%, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Wanted to go about another 1/2 mile but needed to stop and give Evy a ride.  Oh, . . . let's see if I can get do more . . . 

Ran outside for the first time in a long time.  Mid morning run to city creek mile marker 1.5 then to ensign school and back home.   Nice day to be running.

morning tm run.  Didn't feel like running, but felt good once I got going.  Pretty much repeated last week's tempo'ish run:

warm-up for a mile @ 5 mph and 1.5% incline
3 one-mile reps at 6 mph, 1.5% incline, with 1/4 mile recoveries of 4-5 mph, 1.5%
threw in a 1/8 mile stride at 6.5 mph after the last recovery to see how it felt (felt hard - glad it was only for a 1/8 mile!), then ran a slower cool down.

Next week I really should try to do short reps at 6.5 mph to mix it up.

ap ~ 11

morning tm run, laddered a bit from 5-5.5 mph, 1.5% incline.  Took about a 5 minute break around 3 miles when Evy first got here, then had to hop back on for another couple miles.  Unremarkable run, but it got me thinking that I really should consistently stretch and strengthen my legs.  I do feel good that I have in 10 miles so far this week! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

mid morning run to city creek one mile marker and back home.  tried to push a little bit on the hills, but boy it wasn't coming easy!  nice day for running, tho my ears got a little cold, even with headband on.

5 slow to city creek one mile marker and back.  knees a little achy the last few days, probably from the transition from treadmill to streets this last week.

needed some type of speed work, so warmed up a mile, then

4 reps of 1/8+ mile @ 6 mph, 1/8- mile @ 5 mph, then
8 reps of 1/8+ mile @ 6.5 mph, 1/8- mile @ 5mph, then
3 reps of 1/4 mile @ 6 mph, 1/8 mile @ 5 mph, then a short cool down.

Kept incline at 1.5% the whole time.  And, yea, none of my recoveries dipped below 5 mph. :)

(This work out was supposed to be similar to the "one minute on, one minute off" routine, but I don't like clock watching so I would generally run the "on" for a little over a 1/2 lap on the tm, and the "off" to complete the lap, hence the 1/8+ and 1/8- designations.)

Just an ordinary tm run, warm-up, then middle 3 at 5.5 mph, then cool down ~ 5.3 mph.  1.5% incline.

morning run on rm.  warmed up 5 mph @ 1.5% incline, then kept the speed at 5 mph and varied the incline as follows:

1/8+ mile was "on", 1/8- mile was "off" (1%)

2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 6 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 6 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 1

then cool down with approximately 1/4-1/2 mile at 5 mph, 1.5% incline.

This was a good workout, but I think next time I plan a hill workout I should do it slightly different and ladder up and back without the 1% "off" recoveries.

plan today was to run outside for 4-5 miles, then to avoid pounding my knees too much on the pavement, come home and run another 2-3 on treadmill.  however, the wind was a howling with debris flying, so i decided to just do it on the treadmill.

incline at 1.5%, did a short warm up, then laddered between 5 & 5.7 mph.  unfortunately just after 4 miles i got a call from my tenant who had locked herself out, so i needed to stop for 12-15 minutes to drive down and unlock her door.  (Driving back home on 11th avenue I could see all the saturday morning runners grimacing from the wind - normally they look pretty happy!)  Then back onto the treadmill.  i'd stiffened up a little from the cold wind and had to do a short warm up all over again...  But then got back in the groove and started laddering again, switching the speed at the start of a new song.  Boy, was I happy when I finally got to 8 miles; longest run in quite a while!  (Also my highest mileage week in a while.)

Note: i don't normally ladder during my "long" run, but since I was on the treadmill I figured it would help pass the time faster, and probably make me run faster.

Goose-egg. Feeling sick today, and had crummy sleep last night.  A long going nightmare that people were trying to kill me, and I kept hiding from them in a big building, and they kept finding me again, etc.  Kept waking up from the nightmare only to fall back asleep to the same nightmare. bleh . . . 

Wasn't sure how to approach today's run since I was sick and didn't run yesterday. Still feeling sick, but at least I got some quality sleep last night so I just decided to go by feel.  TM at 1.5%, quick warm-up at 5 mph, then laddered from 5.3 to 6.0 mph, and then back down again, clicking the speed button every time a new song came on.  Then did a short cool-down for 1/8 mile.  (ap 11)

early morning.  5 miles on tm.

tm run, laddered up to 6 mph and back.  Clicking the speed button every new song makes treadmill running so much more bearable! (ap ~ 11)

Lots of snow to shovel last night and this morning! 

morning: ran up to Aloha Road, then to the Capital, then back home for  ~ 4.75 miles, no watch.

afternoon: ran on treadmill, laddered up to 6 mph and back.  4 miles, ap ~ 10:40.  

morning tm run, incline at 1.5%. warmed up for a mile, then did 8 1/4 mile reps at 6.5 mph (1/8 mile recoveries at 4-5 mph).  Dang, these were a lot harder than I thought they'd be, but they definitely put me in a 2:1 breathing pattern so the speed was probably about right for my current level of fitness.  Then ran the remaining distance at 5-5.5 mph.

6.5 mph = 9 min 14 sec?

morning tm, a very very slow 5.25 miles!

Morning run to city creek pa 8 and back.  Pretty nippy when I started running, but I warmed up quickly and it ended up being pretty nice running conditions.  No watch, but I tried to push a bit in places, including charging up the hill between 11th & 12th.  (I should do that more often - I bet it would make me pretty strong!)

morning run, unfortunately all on treadmill because I needed to be available at home in case I was "needed". Not particularly motivated this morning, but I got it done.

ap ~ 11:15 with incline at 1.5%

um . . . had to bag this run, and it was supposed to be a speedy one :(

Morning run on tm. Needed to redeem myself after bagging yesterday's run, so I decided to work on my speed. Last week I did 1/4 mile reps at 6.5 mph (9:14 pace) and they were hard, but doable, so today I decided to do more 6.5 mph reps. The plan was to do 1/4 mile reps if I was feeling lousy/tired, and 1/2 mile reps if I was feeling good. But, I felt really good so I made them 3/4 mile reps! :) (yesterday's unplanned rest day did me good.)

Warmed up a mile, then 

4 reps:  3/4 mile @ 6.5 mph (1.5% incline),  1/4 mile recoveries @ 4-5 mph (1.5%).

The 3/4 mile reps were hard, but not that bad.  I stopped to catch my breath for 10-15 seconds towards the end of the 4th rep, but didn't feel too bad about stopping since I was going way over what I had planned for my workout anyway. 

Then ran a bit more to finish up with 6.25 miles. 

Morning run to city creek picnic area 12 and back.  Pushed the first mile up city creek for about a 11 minute mile (was about 10 minute mile on this hill a couple years ago), then on the way home I also pushed on the hill from the base of city creek up to 11th Avenue, and also pushed hard on the short but steep hill on D Street between 11th and 12th Avenue. 

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day for running in Salt Lake City - cool, crisp, sunny with high clouds, no wind.  Ahh!

Mid morning run to capital, then up to city creek picnic area 12, then back home.  Whoa, the wind was really gusty at times during the run - felt like I was darn near blown off the road a couple times! 

morning tm, warmed up for about a mile, then did the following reps:

3 x 1 mile (6.5 mph, 1.5% incline), with 1/4 mile recoveries (4-5 mph, 1.5%)

Stopped twice for 10-15 seconds to catch my breath near the end of my 3rd rep.  Ugh - these were hard!  After running slower for a few minutes, I somehow felt rejuvenated and ramped back up to 6 mph for a few minutes before finishing with 7 miles total.

6.5 mph ~ 9:13 pace

(Next week I'll probably switch things around and try for a tempo run (2 miles @ 6.2-6.3 mph?), or maybe go for a couple 1/4 mile reps at 6.5 mph followed by some one minute "on/off's" at 7 mph.) 

Morning tm run.  Slowly meandered my way up to 6 mph (10 minute pace) and stayed there for a song or two, then slowly dropped back down. 

Went to my first yoga class last night - Salt Lake Running Company on 700 East has a free "yoga for runners" class every Monday night at 6.  Um . . . I'm not very good at yoga!

Morning run - ran just past the city creek turn off up onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  First trail run in a long time - really good running conditions with the trail damp and springy in places, but no real mud.  Ran to the gas pipeline, then decided to also run back on the trail instead of cutting over to the road.  No watch, pushed a little on some of the hills, but generally just enjoyed running in the absolutely gorgeous weather today! :)

Morning run up to City Creek 2.5 mile marker and back home.  Lots of elevation gain and the scrub oak had petered out and I was in the midst of several stands of beautiful Christmas trees with snow about them - very peaceful and beautiful! 

103 12:525

Morning tm run.  Tired this morning and never felt like pushing the pace or distance (really slow first mile, then 4 at 5.5 mph) .  Glad to get the run done, and hope I have more get up and go tomorrow. . . 

Ran to City Creek 1 mile marker and back home.  Still low energy, but the weather was super nice for running today.

31:20/30

Early morning run a little past city creek pa 8 then back home.  A bit frosty and cool, but the air was so sweet smelling after last night's rain!

Morning run up to City Creek 2.5 mile marker and back home.  Started getting big gusts of wind about 1/2 way through the run - mostly cross winds, with the occasional head wind to make uphills harder! 

morning tm. warmed up a mile, then laddered from 6 mph (tempo'ish pace) to 6.5 mph (5k'ish pace), then back to 6 mph, changing the speed a tenth mile at the start of each song.  Then ran at a slower pace until I had 6 miles total.  I felt pretty good for this workout, even though I did stop twice for a few seconds to catch my breath and grab a quick sip of water.  incline at 1.5%

Morning run a little past city creek picnic area 8 and back home, slow pace.  A coyote crossed the road about 50 yards from me, which was pretty cool.  Gorgeous outside!

Evening: went to a free yoga class at the main library.  I was hoping it would be a nice easy stretching type of class, but it was pretty kick butt so I'm hoping what doesn't kill me makes me stronger!

Okay, didn't run for a few days because I took off with a couple of my kids and went exploring Arches National Park.  A most enjoyable trip with some awesome hikes, but now I better start running again!  Shook a bunch of sand out of my shoes, then did the following workout:

tm 1.5%, warmed up about a mile, then ran 3 mile repeats @ 6.5 mph (9:13 pace), with 1/4 mile recoveries between @ 4-5 mph.  Then ran a bit more to end up with 6.25 miles total.  The mile repeats were harder than I thought they'd be - needed to stop a couple times for a few seconds to catch my breath.

I was reflecting a bit last night about not only my fitness, but my general flexibility and agility.  My legs have lost a lot of springiness over the last few years, and I noticed on my trip (& on previous hikes last summer) that when I jump off rocks and stuff, I tend to land on "wooden" legs and that it jars my back a lot.  I think I need to do more stretching, and also try exercises that involve jumping on and off things to see if I can get my knees to remember how to bounce again.  I'll see how it goes.

Evening: went to my 3rd "yoga class for runners" - a free yoga class put on by the Salt Lake Running Company every Monday night.  I'm getting a bit better at my balance, but discovered just how weak my abs really are!

Late afternoon:  4 fairly quick miles towards Capital Building and back home - had to rush because I needed to give someone a ride.  Pretty hot out, and wishing I had some water!

Evening: did some stretches and tried to do some abdominal strength training (that's going to be hard because my abs are so weak it's hard for me to do anything.  going to take baby steps...)

Jumped up 5 steps and back down; it's a start.

Morning run to City Creek gate and back home, threw in a handful of short strides on the downhill sections.  I was hoping to find the water fountains turned on at City Creek, but still no go - it'll be really nice once they get turned on!

Nice morning run to City Creek picnic area 8 and back home.  Nice cool temps this morning after last night's rain; the air smelled so sweet!  

68

I've had a cold all this week that flattened me like a steam roller -  fever, chills, night sweats, aching kidney, dehydration, blah.  Started getting sick on Monday, then spent all day Wednesday and all day Thursday in bed, then most of Friday in bed as well.  Haven't been this sick in a long long time . . . I originally thought I'd be able to run on Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday, then Saturday, but it just hasn't happened.

Well, today I'd planned on cheering on the Salt Lake Marathoners and figured I should still at least be able to do that.  Dragged out of bed, grabbed my olympic cow bells, parked on 500 South, then ran to a spot just before the 25 mile mark.  Ends up I was worse off than I thought and seriously felt like I was going to keel over and faint, so I grabbed a couple very full cups of powerade at the aid station a block away.  (Felt bad taking the powerade since I wasn't running the race, but really felt it was the smart thing to do.)

I went back to my spot and shook my cow bells for all they were worth and cheered lots of runners - recognized lots of frbrs flying by, including Andrea, Fritz, Allie, Rad & others.  My favorite part was seeing two marathoners (maybe in 4th-5th place at that point?) running strong, one on the outside of the half marathoners, and one on the inside of the half marathoners.  I shook my bells and whooped at them and then they gave each other a thumbs up and smile and took off like crazy!

It's always fun cheering on racers - all of them:  the fastest ones, the older ones, the younger ones.  It's interesting - many of the racers seem oblivious to me, but others give nods to let me know they really appreciate the cheering.   Being there to cheer is probably the next best thing to being in the race myself!

Dragged myself home after three hours of cheering, got some soup and some gaterade, and am going to rest now for a while.  Hope none of the rest of you frb'rs get this virus!

Short early morning run to city creek pa 4 and back home.  It was nice and cool with a cloud cover.  It felt good to get out running again, but I was sweating way more than I should have been (still sweating out those nasty virus germs I'm sure . . .).  Legs felt nice and rested, but my head was pounding on the final hills towards home.  I'll try for short easy runs the next few days before trying to ramp my volume back up.

heyho, the city creek drinking fountain is finally turned on! :)

Short run to city creek picnic area 5 and back home.  Got pretty warm on the way home. (still seem to be running hotter than I should based on the outside temps).

Ran up to city creek one mile marker and back home.  high noon - hot, sunny, breezy, and hilly.   (If Burt can do it, so can I!)     :)

nice morning run to city creek one mile marker and back home.  finally felt like pushing the pace a bit - based on breathing it was a good tempo effort so I'll put one mile faster running.  very very very nice cloud cover this morning!   :)

mid day run to city creek one mile marker and back home. 

I left my phone charger in Reno when I was visiting my dad . . . grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Nice cool post rain negative ion filled sweet smelling morning run to city creek one mile marker and back home.  Did some tempo'ish effort running up city creek and 5 hard fairly long strides coming home so I'll count about one mile as fast.

my usual run up to city creek one mile marker then back home.  kind of slow and lazy on the way up, but tried to push it a bit on the downhill.

slow and lazy run up to city creek one mile marker and back home.  beautiful day for running!

Up to city creek 1.5 mile marker and home.  Hope to run more later today.

um . . . hadn't tried any *speedy* workouts in a while, so I thought I should try to get back into the swing of it.

Kept tm @ 1.5%, then did a mile warmup, then a mile @ 6 mph, then 3 reps of 3/4 mile @ 6.5 mph (9 min 13 sec pace), with 1/4 mile recoveries after the 3/4 mile reps.  Then ran slower for a while. 

I was really dreading doing any type of speed work and felt pretty horrid running a faster pace when I started (what can I expect after slacking off for a few weeks), but I felt better pretty quickly.  And, of course now I'm happy I ran the faster reps . . .

early morning run to city creek one mile marker and back home, pretty slow pace.

Early morning run up to city creek 1.5 mile marker and back home. 

I tried to run the first mile up city creek in 10 minutes; got 10:36.  It was harder than I expected - guess I still have a ways to go (but still better than a couple months ago when my timed uphill mile was about 11 minutes).  I was breathing at a hard 5k pace effort and really wanted to slack off the last tenth of a mile, but didn't, so I'm HAPPY about that.

nice morning run to city creek 1.5 mile marker and back home. 

Slow run up to city creek pa 8 and back home.  It was a pretty low energy run, especially for having two days off - I'm thinking it is a fueling issue because I really didn't eat much yesterday.  I've experienced this before, and you'd think I would learn . . .  (Also had a pretty busy two days of yard work, and only got about 4 hours of sleep, so that could also contribute to my tiredness.)

Evening run to city creek pa 8 and back home.  pretty hot when I started, but it was quite cool in city creek, and the sun was setting on the return trip home, so that section was cooler, too.  But, I'm still feeling lethargic - what gives?!?  

Also, my legs are still pretty tight, especially my calves, even though I haven't run very much or very hard this week.  2 days of non stop gardening must have effected me more than I thought.

morning run up to city creek 1.5 mile marker and back home.

morning run up to city creek 2.5 mile marker and back home.  perfect temps but the back of my legs are still quite tight.

4 slow treadmill miles, back of my calves and knees are still very tight so I rather gingerly minced along.  but hey ho first run in over two weeks :)

1.5 mile total mid day run from my car to Alex's graduation ceremony at the Huntsman Center and back to my car (cross country - it was fun, even in my Dansko shoes!)

evening run up to city creek one mile marker and back home.  it was a super nice time to be running, but this run was way harder than it should've been.  :(

slow low energy gotta figure out whats up

to city creek gate and back home. 

2 miles midday, 3 miles early evening. Can't figure this out - I can barely lift my legs to run even though my mileage is WAY lower than it used to be.  And it hurts, why?

cc pa 4 and back, slow pace with painful legs.  The final hill did me in and I had to walk the last 1/2 mile home, it was just too painful to lift my legs enough to run . . .